378th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

378th Rifle Division (10 August 1941 – 13 March 1945)
Postwar photo of Maj. Gen. A.R. Belov
Active	1941–1945
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Engagements	Siege of Leningrad Lyuban Offensive Operation Operation Pole Star Novgorod–Luga Offensive Battle of Narva (1944) Baltic Offensive Vistula-Oder Offensive
Decorations	Order of the Red Banner
Battle honours	Novgorod
Commanders
Notable commanders	Mjr. Gen. G. P. Lilenkov Mjr. Gen. I. M. Platov Mjr. Gen. A. R. Belov

The 378th Rifle Division was a standard Red Army rifle division that began forming on August 10, 1941 in Siberia, before being sent to the vicinity of Leningrad, where it spent most of the war. The soldiers of this division fought until early 1944 to break the siege and drive off the besieging German forces, distinguishing themselves in the liberation of Novgorod. Finally, the division was redeployed to advance into the Balkan States in 1944 and into East Prussia in the winter of 1945. As the war was ending the 378th was disbanded to provide replacements for other divisions. Nevertheless, it had compiled a very creditable combat record for any rifle division.

The 378th began forming in August, 1941 at Achinsk in the Siberian Military District. Along with five other divisions formed in that district that month it was destined for the 59th Army in Volkhov Front. Its order of battle was as follows:

The division was given about six weeks to form up before it was sent by rail to the front, arriving at Vologda, east of Leningrad, and was assigned to 59th Army by November 15.

When the 378th arrived at the front it was hampered from the lack of heavy weapons available to outfit reserve units at this time. At this point, the artillery regiment had only two battalions, instead of three. The 1st battalion had nine 76mm guns in three undersized batteries of three guns each, while the 2nd had just four 122mm howitzers and another four 76mm guns. This was less than half the authorized strength. The regimental mortar units were formed with improvised equipment as well, because in 1942, when the division consolidated these weapons into a divisional battalion, it had one battery of 107mm mountain mortars and one of 120mm mortars, indicating that the division had mountain equipment substituted for at least half the regimental pieces authorized. It also did not receive its antitank battalion until early 1942.

59th Army entered the Lyuban Offensive Operation on January 6, 1942, but the division was in the second echelon in the early stages. These attacks made little progress and collapsed in utter exhaustion and confusion a few days later. Nonplussed by the failures, Stalin dispatched his deputy, Lev Mekhlis, to supervise the Front's preparations to renew the offensive. While Mekhlis' presence was more often a hindrance to Soviet operations, in this case he made at least one positive contribution: